Starting mechanism for hydrocarbon-engines.



F. H. SUMMERlL.

STARTING MECHANISM FOR HYDROCARBON ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11. 1913.

1 209,068. v Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- 3 ammo/14km F. H. S UMMERlL. STARTING MECHANISM FOR HYDROCARBON mamas. APPLlCATlON FILED NOV. H, 1913. 1,209,068, Patented Dec. 19,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. or less diagrammatically my improved start- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MK II. SUHMERIL, OF LOS ANGELES, 'CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T HOBATIO N. ItIOIR'lQN, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

'STLB/TING MECHANISM- FOR HYDROCARBON-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

lpplication filed November 11, 1913. seria1'1vo.s0o,41s.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK H. SUMM'ERIL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles in the county of Los Angeles, State of Ca ifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starting Mechanismfor Hydrocarbon-Engines, of which the following is a description, reference being had .to the accompanying draw ing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful hydro-carbon eng1nes,. and more particularly mechanisms of the character wherein power is stored by the en ine when in action to bepsubsequently used or starting the enine. g An'bbject of the invention is to providea starting mechanism wherein a non-compres sible" fluid may be utilized-for starting the engine, and wherein power may be stored by the engine and utilized at will for propelling the fluid.

A further .objectof the invention is to provide a starting mechanism which includes a fluid operated motor and a circulatory s stem for delivering fluid to and receiving aid from said motor, which system also includes means or devices wherein power may be stored and utilized to deliver the fluid at will-to the motor under pressure. I A further ob'ect of the invention is to provide means or storing power in a system of the above character which is automatic in its action, that is, said means-becomes 'inefl'ective, although continuously operated, when said stored power reaches a;

predetermined pressure.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. 1 In the drawings, which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the inven tion, Figure 1 is a plan view showing more ing mechanism applied to the'gas engine of an automobile; Fig. 2 is a transverse, sectional view showin the pump for storing power in section; ig. 3 is a perspective view showing the entire mechanism 1d the storage'tank with a section brol. n, .wa'y; ;Fig. 4 is an enlarged? detail showing one form of the fluid motor which may be used in connection with the starting system. Fig.

5 is a detail of the receiving receptacle showing the float for controlling the valve between the receptacle and the pump.

The intention consists generally in providing a fluid motor which is propelled by a non-compressible fluid under pressure. By non-compressible fluid as used in the description and clai1ns, 1 have reference to a fluid such as oil 'or the like as distinguished from a gas, which may be compressed. This fluid operated motor is connected with a circulatory system which delivers the fluid to the motor and receives the fluid discharged from the motor. The motor is connected with the shaft of the engine. The circulatory system includes a storage tank for the 011. This storage tank is of such size relative to the entire quantity of oil used in the circulatory system that all of the oil may be pumped into the storage tank and said tank is closed so that the a1r contained therein is placed under pressure. This stored pressure in the compressed air is utilized to force the oil through the system to actuate the motor.

The oil is received from the motor by a suitable receptacle and is pumped by a continuously operating pump from this receptacle into the storage tank. The pump for delivering the oil is of the reciprocating piston or plunger type. The oil is taken from the receiving receptacle by the pump. A float is disposed in the receiving receptacle, which float is connected to the valve between the pump and the receiving receptacle so that the-oil is practically all ex hausted from the receiving receptacle by the pump, said valve will be'lifted by the float and held open at all times so that the pump will merely force the oil back into the receiving receptacle. At other times the oil is forced through the valves into the storage tank. Suitable valves and controlling de vices are used in connection with the starting mechanism.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I have shown more or less diagrammatically in F 1g. 1 the supporting frame 1 of an automobile on which is mounted. as herein shown, a 4.-cylinder hydro-carbon engine 2. The main shaft 3 of the engine extends to the forward end of the automobile and a crank may be applied to the end 4. thereof for ,manually turning over the engine to start the same if desired. A fluid motor 5 is mounted on the engine shaft, adjacent the casing so as to form a chamber 9.

cranking end thereof. l have shown one form of fluid motor in detail which may be used in connection with my starting system. .-\s shown in this view, said motor consists of a central comrentric member (3. which may be connected to the engine shaft 3 at the will of the operator. Said central. member is located in a casing 7, which is lixed to the frame of the machine by suitable bolts 8.

The central member is spaced from the This chamber is divided into two sections by abutments l0 and 11. The casing is sloped gradually to the maximum depth of the abuti'nents 10 and 11. The central rotating member is provided with segmental pistons 12, herein shown as 3 in number. These pistons, are so disposed that the ab'utments 10 and 11 will shift the pistons so as to permit said pistons to pass the abutments. A spring-pressed ball 13, engaging notches or sockets ll, yieldingly holds the pistons in their extreme positions. Assuming that the motor rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4, an inlet passage 15 is formed on one' side of the abutment 1t) and an inlet passage 16 on one side of the abutment 11. An outlet passage 17 is formed on the other side otthe abutment 11 and cooperates with the inlet passage 15. that is. to say, the fluid received through the inlet passage 15 is discharged through the outlet passage 17. An outlet passage 18 cooperates in a similar manner with the inletpassage 16.

The operation ol the motorwill be apparent from the above description. According to the present invention, a non-compressible fluid is forced through the motor under pressure and this causes the central member ti to rotate. This specific fluid actuated motor forms no part of the present invention. but is shown, described and claimed in my copending application. Serial No. HOGAN, tiled of even date herewith. It will also-be understood that while I prefer to use the present form ot motor, that from certain aspects of the invention. other types of fluid operated motors may be utilized. The fluid for operating the motor is delivered to the inlets Island 16 from a pipe 15). This pipe 1.) is connected with a storage tank 20 and with the pipes 19 and 15)" which in turn are connected with the respective inlets 15 and 16. A lunul-actuated valve :Zl controls the How of the fluid -t'romthe storage tank to the motor.- The fluid is received 'lrom the outlets l7 and 18 by pipes 22 and 22". respectively. which are connected to the pipe 22 which discharges said fluid into a receptacle :53. This receptacle may be open to the atmosphere, if desired. There is no check valve or the like necessary between the receptacleand the operating motor. \Vhen the motor is in operation. it is forcing the fluid toward the' receptacle 23 and even if it was not in operation, then only a small por, tion can flow back to the motor. pump '24 transmits the fluid from the receptacle 23 to the storage tank. valve 25 is placed between the pump and the receptacle .23. This valve is connected by suitable mechanism with a float :25 in the. receiving recep acle 3. check valve 26 is placed between the pump and the storage tank. This pump, as shown in Fig. 2. is the ordinary piston pump and consists of a cylinder '27 in which reciprocates a piston 28. connected to a piston rod :29, which, asherein shown, is a part of the eccentric strap 30, cot'iperating with an eccentric-31 on the main shaft 3 of the engine. i

As the piston or plunger of the pump re ciprocates,-oil will be drawn from the receiving receptacle and transmitted to the storage tank 20. \Vhen the oil-reaches the position shown in Fig. 5, the float 25 will operate through the connected mechanism \vith'the valve. 25 to raise the valve and hold it. open so that further reciprocations of the piston orplunger will merely draw oil from the receiving receptacle and force it back into the same.' At this time, however, substantially all of the oil has been transmitted to thestorage tank.

In the operation of my improved system or mechanism for starting. the storage tank is first placed under air pressure of, say, approximately 90 pounds, after which oil' is introduced into the system, which oil is pumped or transmitted to the storage tank, compressing the air therein to a further degree. The enire amount of oil in the system can be stored in the tank and will only partially till the same.- The resultant pressure in the tank will depend upon the amount of oil put into the system. and, therefore, this initial pressure on the fluid for starting may be readily varied by increasing the amount of oil in the system. As soon as the oil is all transmitted to the storage receptacle, the pump becomes inefl'ective, for .reasons above stated. lmtwithstanding the fact that it-is continuously actuated by the engine shaft.

When it is desired to start the engine, the valve 21. which. of course, is made accessible to the operator, is opened and the fluid contained in the storage tank is torced through the pressureof the compressed air through the pipe 1!) to the fluid motor, actuating the same to turn the engine shaft. The fluidis discharged into the receptacle 23, and as soon as the machine is running, the pump 24 at once begins its action to transmit the oil which has been used in starting back to the ICS storage tank. The pipe 19 leading to the. 113

From the above description it will be apparent that the starting torque is determined by the proportion of oil to the air, and the air factor remaining constant, the pressure required for starting may be regulated to an absolute certainty by adjusting the volume of oil. Furthermore, it will be apparent that no more oil is required to start a large engine than a small engine, as the starting force is a matter of pressure and not a matter of volume of oil used. Then again, it will be noted that the highest effective pressure on the starting fluid is at the moment of starting, when the engine inertia is to be overcome, and, therefore, my improved system for starting is of high efficiency. The storage tank, together with the pump, which is continuously actuated by the engine shaft, constitute devices for storing up power during the normal running of the automobile, and this stored up power may be utilized at will by the controlling of the hand valve 21, so as to deliver a non-compressible operating fluid under pressure to the starting device, which is the fluid operated motor.

It will be apparent that changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of parts and specific devices described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination of a non-compressible fluid operated motor for starting a hydrocarbon engine, a circulatory system connected with said motor, whereby fluid is delivered to said motor, said system including a storage tank for the non-compressible fluid, said tank being closed and larger in capacity than the volume of fluid used in the system, whereby the fluid may be stored in said tank and the air contained therein placed under pressure, means under the control of the operator for releasing the fluid from the storage tank for operating the motor,.a receptacle for receiving the fluid from the motor, a pump for transmitting the fluid from said receptacle to the storage tank, said pump being continuously actuated by the ered to and received from said motor, said system including a storage tank for the fluid, said tank being closed and larger in capacity than the volume of fluid used in the system, whereby the fluid may be stored in said tank and the air contained therein placed under pressure, means under the control of the operator for releasing the fluid from the storage tank for operating the motor, a receptacle for receiving the fluid from the motor and a pump for transmitting the fluid from said receptacle to the storage tank, said pump being continuously actuated by the engine, and consisting of a cylinder, a reciprocating member, a valve between the pump and the receiving receptacle, a float in said receptacle, and devices operated by said float for lifting the valve so as to render said pump ineffective. F

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. FRANK H. SUMMERIL. Witnesses:

M. N. BARNES, CARoLTNn GRAIN. 

